Day Jaunt from Benfleet to Leigh on Sea

Day jaunt from Benfleet to Leigh on Sea with Ruth Daivs and Clare O'Neill. Leigh on Sea, a fishing town on the Essex coast.

Henry IV, endeavouring to avoid the plague then raging in London, crossed the Thames from Sheppey to Leigh. Halfway across, his ship was attacked by French pirates, a great chase ensued and, had it not been for the skill and navigational prowess of his crew, the King would have been captured. As he set foot on the Strand, the King went down on his knees and gave thanks for his safe delivery to Leigh.

Today's group took the train from London to Benfleet and then walked to Leigh on Sea.

The earliest known written record of Leigh (or Legra as it was then known) is the entry in the Domesday Book, compiled in 1086.

The entry in the Domesday Book runs:
Legra, which was held by 1 free man as a manor and as a 1 hide, is held by R in demesne. Then as now (Semper) 2 villeins, and 2 bordars, and 1 plough on the demesne, and half a plough belonging to the men, and 5 bordars by the water (super aquam ), who hold no land. There is pasture for 100 sheep. Then 1 rouncey (horse) , 5 cows, 5 calves (and) 100 sheep; now 2 rounceys, 4 cows, 5 calves (and) 103 sheep. It was then worth 40 shillings; now 100

Let us not get ahead of the narrative. First, the walk from Benfleet.

The great clash of good & evil is retold throughout the ages.



Moving memorials.



Buster R.I.P.

You have been warned.



Head office.



Secuity measures.



Twitchers on the Twitch.



Clare & Ruth.



Kestrel.

Ruth prepares to cross the ford to the birdhouse island. Clare, unwilling to risk the crossing, holds back and is left alone for this next stage of the journey.



Ian and Ruth stare into the void.



Vessel.

Now the party can be seen entering Old Leigh town.

Remote signs of civilization. An outlying public inconveience.



Ruth and Clare ascending.



Fresh soup installation.



Civilization begins to dawn. A "cockle shed" and local custom.



Buoy.



Thereafter the group ate lunch in a public house. Then a stroll towards the New Town, hampered by the weather. A sighting of a recently deceased cat followed (forwarned by the pet memorials, see above). Ruth was concerned what we were to do about the find. Faced with the options of burial on land or at sea, with full honours, it was thought best to leave it there by the roadside to biodegrade as nature saw fit.

The party found nearly all shops & churches beyond here to be closed and made back to Old Leigh Town for desert in The Smack public house, with its roaring fire and eclectic music, greeted by a model (not ship-shape) sailor, to wait for the onset of sunset.

Solo Jaunt to St Neots

St Neots boasts to be the most populous of Cambridshire's towns.

The Church of St Mary the Virgin which was locked. A lady helpfully informed me that the door I was trying to open was for the boiler room.


The Mystery of the St Neots Jubilee Clock.


Utility tower & adjacent Kingdom Hall.

Local barbers.



Food outlet.